1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention generally relates to vehicle roller shade assemblies, and more particularly relates to a vehicle roller shade assembly having a folding end cap.
2. Description of Related Art
Security shades and window coverings are well known in the prior art of vehicles. In particular, security shades have been used in the prior art for covering rear compartments of SUV's or hatchback vehicles, shades for covering automobile windows, or rollers for barrier nets and the like. These shades have all been well known and used in the art for numerous years. Generally, these shade assemblies are valuable accessories to most consumers, however, it is often desirable to remove the roller from the vehicle, thus making ease of installation or removal from the vehicle a key feature of the device. Another key feature of the device is the ability to use the security shade in a variety of positions within the automobile vehicle, thus requiring a change in the length of the roller or end caps for the security shade to allow for such variety of uses within an automotive vehicle interior.
Many of these prior art shade assemblies that are used as security shades are built in numerous variations and with multiple lengths for a single model vehicle or across a larger vehicle line. For example, many of the security shades are typically mounted in the brackets between the interior trim panels inside of a motor vehicle. If the distance between the two interior panels varies between cars of the same production by either numerous inches, tenths of inches, or the like, the shade assembly must still be able to fit between the panels and not rattle back and forth within the vehicle. Therefore, the ability to have a two position end cap that will change the overall length of a roller of a security shade will allow for a single vehicle security shade to be used across numerous vehicle lines, not just a specifically designed and built single model security shade as has been the case in most prior art shade assembly systems.
Many of these prior art vehicle security shades have a roller that utilizes end caps at the end of the rollers and generally either one or both of them are spring loaded on their respective ends of the rollers. To install the rollers, the end caps are compressed to fit the roller into the brackets, and when released the spring or springs in the end caps exert an axially outward force against the brackets on the trim panels, keeping the roller in place within the vehicle interior. Many of these spring loaded designs also provide a self centering action which allows for easy installation or removal of such vehicle security shades even with one hand.
There have been many attempts within the prior art to secure the roller within the brackets, which have been met with relative amounts of success. Generally, many of these devices typically add weight and/or cost to the shade and/or limit the advantages of the floating end caps thus making the shade significantly more difficult to install or remove. Therefore, there is a need in the prior art for a novel and improved end cap for use with a security shade or shade assembly within a vehicle. There also is a need in the prior art for a folding end cap that will in effect reduce the length of the shade assembly to allow for a single shade assembly to be used over a variety of vehicle lines having a variety of lengths within the interior of the vehicles. Furthermore, there is a need in the art for an end cap that will allow for a pivoting action to create a two position end cap that can be used on one or both ends of a roller system to effectively allow for three variations of length if an end cap is used on both ends according to the present invention. This will greatly reduce the cost to manufacture and design a vehicle security shade for use across multiple vehicle lines of an automotive manufacturer. There also is a need in the art for an easier design and more efficient methodology of creating an end cap that can have varying lengths for use in various positions within a single vehicle or for use in multiple model lines across entire vehicle lines of an automotive manufacture.